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possession, we have to retain a few ditches, not
many; but in situations where no gullies inter
fere it is rare that a ditch is needed. This can be
easily tested, however. For after a field is cul
tivated on a perfect level, if owing to the texture
of the land, or other causes, breaks begin to ap
pear at any point on a hill-side, a ditch should
be run immediately from that point to the near
est outlet. AVe have noticed these breaks some
times, and supposed a considerable wash would
be formed by tracing them; but soon the water
would come to a stand, and run over the bed of
the row in a number of contiguous places, until
finally the breaks would be so numerous and so
small, as to be of but little consequence. The
next plowing would wipe them all out. Many
objections have been raised to level culture, but
we have never found one to hold against the
system. Most generally they are founded on
the imperfect manner with which the objec
tors do their work, and not against the system
itself. ‘
Our method is to have guide rows run on a
perfect level from ten to thirty or even fifty
yards apart, according to the steepness of the
hills and their irregularity; filling in all the
space between with com and cotton rows, as
the case may be. Should any considerable ir
regularity occur by which the rows are thrown
off of a level, another guide row must bo run in
the intermediate space. This is very important,
as at these points gullies are more likely to be
made. The short rows should taper at the ends,
by closing up nearly one half of the original
width, otherwise the long rows passing on each
side of a short one, will have to be double the
proper width for some distance, or make a sud
den curve around it. Under this process there
are much fewer short rows than under any
other system of horizontalizing. Many run
their rows on a partial level, leaving a hedge
where the turn is rather sudden, as on the top
of a ridge, where the rows terminate. This plan
lies open to the objection of having more short
rows, and not being on a perfect level either.
AVe are pleased to see, however, that all planters
here, who have any respectability as agricul
turalists, have adopted in some form the level
culture, insomuch that nothing looks more bar
barous than rows run up and down the hills, as
in the olden time. This, we feel assured, when
perfected, will be the system throughout the
country, never to be superceded by any other,
until labor becomes so cheap and lands so high
as to warrant the more perfect but more expen
sive system of terracing. Indeed, we can con
ceive of a plan by which land can bo thrown into
terraces by suitably constructed plows without
so much expense as would appear at first view,
so that each row might be upon a level plain as
well as in a horizontal line. This, however,
will have to be the project of a future age.
Sparta, Ga. P.
i»>
MANURE FOR GRASSES.
The editor of the Genesee Farmer , who has
studied the food of plants with equal diligence
and success, makes the following remarks on the
subject of manure for grasses :
“ Nearly all the experiments which have been
mado with artificial manures for grasses, indi
cate that, like wheat, barley, oats, etc., the
grasses proper—such as timothy, rye-grass, etc,
—require a large amount of ammonia. In the
park at Rothamsted, which lias been in grass for
a great number of years, and the crop frequent
ly made into hay removed from the land, ma
nures containing much ammonia were very bene
ficial on the grasses, wliile those furnishing pot
ash, soda, and other inorganic substances, had
the effect of causing clover and other legumin
ous plants to spring up and flourish. This effect
was very marked, and the result fully sustains
the deductions made from direct experiments on
clover, wheat, barley, etc. AVe are warranted
in concluding that clover and other leguminous
plants require a larger amount of alkalies in the
soils than wheat and the grasses generally,
while the latter require manure rich in ammonia.
‘ Some experiments recently mado in Scotland,
by Thomas Ferguson, also favor this opinion.
Land recently seeded with rye-grass and clover,
was top-dressed with various fertilizers. Those
furnishing a free supply of nitric acid, increased
the rye-grass to such an extent ‘that the clover
plant was choked, and came up very thin in the
aftermath.’ One hundred and twelve pounds of
sulphate of ammonia, costing $4 50, gave
an increase of fifteen hundred and twenty-four
pounds of hay per acre; two hundred and
twenty-four pounds of Peruvian guano, costing
six dollars, an increase of twelve hundred and
sixty pounds ; ono hundred and twolvo pounds
nitrate of soda, costing five dollars, an increase
of sixteen hundred and forty pounds; two hun
dred and eighty pounds of super-pliosphate of
lime, costing six dollars, an increase of
pounds, while sulphate and muriate of potash
gave an increase of only thirty pounds.
“In another field, on a two year old pasture, an
application of five dollar’s worth of guano ‘at
least doubled the outlay in grass,’as also the sul
phate of ammonia and nitrate of soda, all of
which thickened the grass plants, besides giv
ing them a quick growth.”
From the Country Gentleman.
CULTURE OF VETCHES.
Messrs. Editors : Having seen an article in
your paper some time ago, in reference to “A retch
es,” and having been asked by several agricultu
rists if vetches are as profitable in this country
a? in England, I havo pleasure in informing you,
for the benefit of my fellow agriculturists, that
two years ago I imported a small quantity for
trial, and I have pleasure in stating that the ex
periment has been far beyond my most sanguino
expectations. I have tried it on all kinds of laud,
and it has done well on each, but I consider
high land the best. Have sown it on a piece of
rocky land, where there was not over four inches
of soil, and the crop was abundant. I have
mowed it three times in ono season (upon com
mon clay land) for my horses. I have also cut it
once for feed, and left the second growth for
seed, which returned twenty bushels per acre.
I should also inform you that my cattle have
been fed upon the vetch straw this winter, and
I consider it muen superior to feed with than any
other kind of straw. A. AVoolford,
Lyn, Canada West.
—
Cranberries and Huckleberries. —Ocean
county, N. J., has long been celebrated for the
quantity and quality of her huckleberries and
cranberries, and hundreds of thousands of bush
els are annually sent to market. The profit on
the crop, on good land, is from one hundred to
five hundred dollars per acre, and the appear
ance of both, at the present time, is said to be
very promising.
—
Hog Cholera. —AVe understand that this
disease is prevailing to an alarming extent in
tho upper portion of this county, some planters
having lost nearly the whole of their stock of
hogs from it. It is stated that where hogs are
kept up in lots they aro not attacked by the
disease, while those farmers who permit their
animals to run at largo have suffered greatly.
Memphis Avalanche.
A
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CM
mu sour kk mt spxas&& vx3ussx&&
[Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.]
MONTHLY STATEMENT OF THE WEATHER
AND CROPS.
The amount of rain falling in the month of
June was 2.39 inches. On the 17th, more than
one-half of this fell, I.3o—making a good season.
The remainder came in small sliowei s, at dif
ferent times, the largest of which was on the
11th—0.25 of an inch.
The wannest day was on the 30th, the ther
mometer standing at 96 at 2 P. M.—t(ie average
heat at that hour being 87$.
The amount of cloudy days was as 15.25 to
14.75. This is ascertained by three daily ob
servations. which approximates the tmth very
closely. But for tho remarkable number of
cloudy days (more than one-half!) the crops would
have suffered from the small amount of rain.
The wheat crop, mainly harvested in May,
was about a fortnight earlier than last year. The
report from the thrashers is a considerable fall
ing off from what was anticipated. This is owing
to mildew and leaf rust, which affected all the
crops, more or less, and has ruined the oats
again in most places.
Corn and cotton will average well with other
years, as far as the Ist of July. P.
Sparta, Ga., July 1.
LORD NAPIER OIT&MERICAN AGRICULTURE.
At the meeting of the United States Agricul
tural Society at Richmond, Ya., the late Eng
lish Ambassador made a speech, from which we
take tho following:
AYlien I rise to address the great assembly
which has remembered my sovereign and my
country, and done me the honor of recognizing
my presence at this festival, I reflect with satis
faction that however ignorant of the noble in
dustry to which you are devoted, and however
incapable of justly appreciating the efforts and
services which you are rendering in its cause, I
may still rank myself, though in a subordinate
order, among the true sons and votaries of tho
soil. I remember, with pleasure, that my father
was an unsuccessful farmer, though a success
ful writer on the art of fanning. I belong to a
class whose interests and affections are deeply
rooted in the land—a class whose active age is
much bestowed on the business of Parliament,
or negotiation, or civil government, or the pro
fession of arms, but whose thoughts in all the
vicissitudes of life and strife still repose upon the
fields and sports, and who ever dream of a late
return to the hereditary home. Notwithstand
ing this foreign vagrancy and diplomatic deser
tion, I remain a member of the Highland Society
of Scotland; and however incredible it may ap
pear to you, I am President of the Pastoral As
sociation of my native country, for the improve
ment of the breed of sheep. AVith such instincts
and associations, you will believe that I do not
feel altogether a stranger here, and that I am
deeply gratified by the hearty welcome that I
find from the brotherhood of agriculturists, in
which I claim to bo an affiliated, though at pre
sent an unfruitful member.
The husbandly of America presents in its vast
extension and rapid progress a spectacle to which
no Englishman can remain indifferent. History
offers no example of this swift, resistless, un
ceasing encroachment of skilled labor over the
vacant and fertile domain of the savage and the
brute. It is the first triumph of man, equipped
with all the aecumidatcd powers of experience
and invention, over nature in her largest limits
and her most gracious and bountifid conditions.
In tho agriculture of the United States we see
with exultation a beneficent and spontaneous
profession iff industry, of which tin? field is the
American continent, and of which the implement
is the Anglo-Saxon arm.
***** *
AA'hile recognizing all the importance of the
land and tho agriculture of the United States to
the social welfare of the British empire, I cannot
deny myself the pleasure of expressing to you
the interest which, as a mere virtuoso in rural
matters, I havo taken in the external aspect of
American husbandry. In some respgets the pros
pect is often indeed unsatisfactory to the Eng
lish eye. In the new parts of the country the
primitive graces of the landscape are ruthlessly
violated, while the artificial trimness to which
wo are accustomed has not begun. AVe mourn
over the blackened and girdled giant of the for
est, each of which would be the sylvan honor of
an English homestead; our fastidious taste com
plains that tho furrow' is not straight, that the
wheat is not clean, that tho swamp is not drain
ed, that the sward bristles with obnoxious
stumps; that there is a general absence of root,
or green crops, and w r e discover a great defi
ciency of sheep. In the regions which have
lieen longest under the plow, the vital forces of
the soil seem to have been frequently overtaxed;
the more valuable cereals aro abandoned, and
here and there the wilderness resumes its sway.
It requires but little reflection to show that these
phenomena aro the natural and transitory con
comitants of the first epoch of tillage, which is
hasty, pitiless, and impoverishing. On the other
hand, I remark that in many portions of tho
Union there are extensive tracts which would
be considered opulent and well ordered in any
European kingdom. In the absence of turnipc,
potatoes, and mangcl-w'urzel, the English travel
er is gratified by the spectacle of Indian com,
tobacco, and the vine; and further South by the
cotton plant, tho rice field, and the cane—all
magnificent and lucrative productions, unknown
to British husbandry. Thero is also a greater
abundance of fruit trees; the breed of horses
equals that of the mother country, except, I think,
for the purposes of heavy draft; and the various
races of cattle, replenished by importations of the
best blood of England, will be propagated with
out degeneracy, and will be formidable rivals to
tho parent stock.
In a country whore human labor is exorbi
tantly expensive, the greatest ingenuity is exert
ed in the improvement of tools and the inven
tion of mechanical aids and substitutes, and in
this respect the triumphs of American contriv
ances are not only profitable at home, but are
recognized and adopted by foreign nations. Much,
gentlemen, has been accomplished, and the fu
ture will furnish still higher results. If w T o re
gard the dissemination of intelligence, the diffu
sion of tastes for rural pursuits, the increased
application of capital, the scientific inspection of
soils, tho discriminating use of manures, the de
velopment of the home market, and the general
establishment of competive exhibitions, wo may
safely affirm that American agriculture has en
tered upon a period which will not only be re
parative where the past was exhaustive, but
which will gradually carry' the land in every
quarter to a high pitch of productiveness and
beauty.— Genesee Fanner.
-
Japan Peak — A correspondent of the Indiana
Farmer states that the Japan pear are now raised
in that section in sufficient quantity to sell for
ten cents per quart, for cooking and for seed.—
He says “ there is not a man who is fond of a
leguminous dish that would not relish them,
perhaps as well as he would a dish of Lima
beans.” They should be steeped in water twenty
four hours before cooking. This is absolutely
necessary.
HORTICULTURAL.
Vfl, N. WHITE, Editor.
SATURDAY JULY 9, 1559.
BOOK NOTICES.
Downing’s Landscape Gardening-' A Treatise on tile
Theory ami Practice of Landscape Gardening, adapted to
North’America; with a view to the improvement of
country residences, comprising historical notices, and the
general principle's of the art, directions for laying ont
grounds and arranging plantations, the descriptions and
cultivation of hardy trees, decorative accompaniments of
the house and grounds, the formation of pieces of artificial
water, flower gardens, etc, with remarks on Rural archi
tecture ;by the late A. J. Downing, Esq., sixth edition,
enlarged, revised, and newly illustrated, with a supple
ment. containing some remarks about country places, and
the best methods of making them; also, aii account of
the newer deciduous and evergreen plants, lately intro
duced into cultivation, both hardy and half hardy ; by
llkxry Winthkop Sargent; New York, A. 0. Moore
and Co.
The publishers have favored us with a copy
of their new edition of Downing’s Landscape
Gardening, a book which needs no commenda
tion. The first attempt at literary production,
of an unknown author barely twenty-five years
of age, its own intrinsic merits in matter and
style brought it at once into notice; and it has
since been universally acknowledged the stand
ard in all that relates to this art. It is still a con
stant companion with all undertaking to lay out
or adorn a country seat. The first copy we ever
saw we wore glad to borrow, and well remember
the expedition and zest with which its contents
were devoured, being alike attractive from tho
novelty of the matter to us, and the graceful
diffuseness of the author’s style. It was em
phatically a book we could not be without, and
Our own copy has ever continued to be con
stantly referred to; and among the many treatises
that have since appeared on the same subject,
none have displaced or equalled our favorite
author. The merits of Mr. Downing’s work were
such that even in England where the art in its
higher manifestations originated, Loudon pro
nounced it “ a masterly performance,” and Lind
let, smothering his avowed dislike of everything
American, acknowledges, “on the whole, we know
of no work in which tho fundamental principles
of this profession are so well and so clearly ex
pressed and again, “no English Landscape
Gardener has written so clearly or with so much
real intensity.”
The book appeared at a fortunate period,
when in all of our large cities there were men
of wealth growing weary of commerce and ea
ger for a refined country life. This nascent
taste was vivified by a perusal of our author,
and to him they went to learn how to build their
dwellings, how to lay out their grounds, and the
influence of this, and other books of the
author on this subject, are now manifest in every
town in the laud.
It is eighteen years since the original work
appeared. Large nurseries of ornamental trees
have since then sprung up, the colonization of
California, Fortune's explorations in China, and
the researches of botanical collectors in all parts
of the earth, have vastly increased the number
of trees and shrubs suitable for landscape adorn
ment. These new varieties required to be de
scribed and incorporated in the work, while suf
ficient time has elapsed to determine the hardi
hood and value of others which had been new
ly introduced when the work was written, and
of whose merits, or demerits, the author could
not speak decidedly. Hence, a revision of the
onginal treatise was required with sucli additions
as should bring it up to the present state of our
knowledge, and, fortunately for reader and pub
lisher, a friend and neighbor of the author, H.
AV. Sargent, Esq., a man of kindred tastes and
larger experience, undertook the task. A plea
sant morning stroll, throe years since, over his
place at AVodenotlie, opposite Newburg, N. Y.,
satisfied us of his eminent ability in creating a
beautiful country seat. Mr. Sargent has ex
perimented more largely in planting the more
recently introduced trees and shrubs than any
othor man in the country. The experience of
others, derived from a correspondence with resi
dents in all sections of the Union, he has added
to his own, and embodied the whole in a supple
ment of ono hundred and fifty pages to Mr. Dow
ning’s original treatise. In this supplement he
tells first, in a general manner, how to make a
country place, what to do, and what to avoid.
As a specimen of the author’s clearness of style,
as well as tho correctness of his taste in these
matters, we copy tho following: “A common
error, and we think a very decided one, is the
anxiety to have flowers and flowering shrubs,
while the place is still in tiie rough, and before
we know where to put them with propriety.
“A very usual employment of new grounds
immediately adjacent to the house,’is the most
injudicious and tasteless admixture of decapitat
ed forest-trees and dahlias, with roses, ever
greens, roses, altheas, and the various common
plants, indiscriminately put together, a few
inches, or at most a sow feet apart, in tho coarse
weedy grass, which is the best apology for a
lawn which could be got up in tho time—ex
posed to the carelessness of workmen and the
depredations of roadside cattle. AA r o have seen
even avenues—and in places too where other
wise there aro evidences of good taste—planted
with alternate rows of forest trees and dahlias,
with an occasional rose tree or geranium.—
Nothing, we conceive, can be in worse taste than
this; for though nothing can be prettier than a
rose in a rose garden, properly surrounded by the
most refined and ornamental shrubs, liko a jewel
in an appropriate setting; yet, can anything be
more improper and discordant than the same rose
in a stubble field, or, what is quite as inappro
priate, in the rough and ill kept grounds of a
raw and unfinished place? Refinement must be
associated wjth and surrounded by refinement,
or it loses half its charm. AVe hear of, and
sometimes see, a rough diamond, but no one, wo
think, will pretend to say that the same diamond
polished and properly sot is not infinitely more
attractive.”
Price of the work, $3.50.
BEST MODE OF PRESERVING FRUITS.
AVe have had the past three seasons in our i
own family a good deal of experience in putting !
up fruits in cans, and besides, have received
some valuable hints from a neighbor, who has
prepared several tons for market the last two
years. Our first year’s experiments were not ,
very satisfactory; but our present losses are
absolutely nothing, unless there is some air hole
; in the can. The past year we did not lose one
per cent, of those put up, and nowjgivo our read
ers the results of our experience. Tin cans, so
> well soddered that they are completely air-tight,
answer perfectly for many fruits, but the more
acid sorts corrode the can more or less, and fla
vor the fruits with the salts of tin. This is
’ more apt to be the case with tomatoes and red
juiced fruits. Generally, however, if the cans
are perfectly air-tight, there is very little action
of the fruits upon them, and as the tin quickly
heats through, fruits are more likely to keep
well in it than in glass or earthenware, which
often, not having been heated sufficiently, lowers
the temperature of tho fruit so much that the
air is not entirely driven off, and from this cause
the fruit often spoils.
For our own use, and especially for all acid
fruits, we prefer glazed pottery, or glass; the
former is not so liable to leakage, but glass has
the great advantage that the fruit is always ready
for inspection, and its precise condition is always
apparent. For cheapness, convenience, or safe
ty, the fruit bottle invented by T. G. Yeomans,
of AValworth, New York, has no superior. Os
these we procured a supply last season, not one
of which gave us any trouble. The mouth of
the bottle is large enough to admit the fruit
readily, and is closed with a cork which rests
upon a shoulder within the mouth of the bottle,
so that it cannot be driven in by the pressure of
tho atmosphere; while, above tho cork, is left
sufficient room for the melted wax. Good wax
is made with a pound of rosin, an ounce of bees
wax, and an ounce of tallow, (some add more
wax,) melted together. After the jars have been
sealed half an hour or so, examine to see if it
has been perfectly performed. For ordinary use,
the lialf gallon size will be found most conve
nient; though a few of less size are desirable to
put in what may remain after filling larger sizes,
from the amount prepared at once.
Peaches for putting up should be hulled and
halved. Apples, pears, and quinces, in addi
tion, should have the cores removed, and be cut
smaller than peaches. Berries should be worked,
and picked over carefully, and all used while
freshly gathered.
In putting up fruit the safest receipt for )>e
giuners is to use not less thtfn two pounds of
sugar to five of fruit. Os the more acid kinds
half a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit is not
toojmuch. , Put a layer of fruit, then one of sugar,
into a preserving kettle, and so on until the ves
' sel is two-thirds full, and cover it with a suitable
tin cover; after a little juice is extracted by tho
sugar put them over the lire and boil five min
utes. Meanwhile tho jars should be brought
nearly to the temperature of boiling water. —
Proceed now to fill the jars with the fruit, aud
fill the spaces between the pieces with the hot
syrup. Wipe off any syrup about the sealing place
and seal up at once. Tho above arc th 6 general
rules. Peaches are better flavored if allcdfed
to boil but one minute, but will be more likely
not to keep well. Clingstones are the best, and
will not suffer as quick as the froestono from over
boiling. Quinces, and apples, and pears, all but
the more juicy ones, should bo stewed soft in a
little water before tho sugar is added.
Tomatoes should be peeled, boiled down one
half in their own juice, and put up at once; no
addition of sugar is required.
If the foregoing points are kept in mind there
will be found no difficulty in tho matter. AVe re
peat them.
The can must bo really air-tight, (in this re
spect many of the tin cans are defective). The
fruit itself must be fresh, and tho air completely
expelled from it by bringing the entire mass of '
fruit up to the boiling point. When hot, place it
immediately in tho cans or heated jars and see '
that all interstices are filled with the hot syrup.
Fill the vessel entirely, wipe off any juice that
may have fallen upon the top, and seal it at once
and perfectly. Examine if the seal continues
perfect until cold. If not, heat over the fruit im
mediately and re-seal it.
— -
From the Country Gentleman.
BRINE A CURE FOR WARTS.
Messrs. Editors: Having seen in tho March
number of the Cultivator , a recommendation of a
method of curing warts on horses, which seems
to me to be very cruel, I am induced to write my
experience in curing them, believing that warts
have ono origin, and are the same, and the same
remedy will cure, on whatever animal they may
be found. It is some years since I saw a young
man in Salem, Mass., the back of whose hands
were literally covered with warts, many of
them large and seedy, and very troublesome. I
told him to go and wash his hands in the tide
water in the floom, (he worked in a tide mill,)
three times a day for ono week, and to use plenty
of soap, and in a few weeks his warts would be
among the missing. He took my advice, and tho
warts left in about two months.
Cows often have warts on their udders. I
have seen many, and some very bad, which I
have cured by simply washing them after milk
ing, for one or two weeks, with brine, which is
my only remedy, and has never failed of a cure.
Markesan, AVis. S. P.
—.-
Hat Seed for Hogs.— A correspondent of the
Country Gentleman writes: In addition to the j
grain and meal given to growing hogs in tho (
sty, they should have a daily allowance of green
clover; or in winter, when this is not available,
a liberal allowance of hay seed from the bam,
mixed with their sljp, which they will eat with (
avidity. Ho known of no mode by which so j
great an amount of growth and weight can be
induced with equal oost of food, in the winter 1
season, as by this haying system.
Genesee Farmer.
HORTIC ULTURAL OPERATIONS FOR JOLT.
Vegetable Garden.—Continue to gather and
■ store the crops of Onions, Irish Potatoes, and
seeds of all kinds as they mature, also sage and
other sweet and medicinal herbs, while in flower;
dry them well before they are stowed. See that
all spaces thus left vacant are dug up and re
planted with late vegetables. Early and large
York cabbages, if now' sown in beds and shaded
during the day, will make fair plants for setting
out in August, and will head during the autumn.
Grown in this way they make fine w'inter cab
bages. Sow Ruta Baga and Sweet German
Turnips, taking advantage of the first rain; as
soon as may be after the 20th of the month, be
gin to sow the common kinds. Os these, Early
White Dutch, Early Red Top, (Strap Leaves),
Yellow Dutch, White Globe, Norfolk and Yellow
Aberdeen are all good. Continue sowing at
favorable seasons until the last of September.
Endive also may be sown for winter use. Beets
now planted, sometimes succeed, and are fine all
winter; the same may be said of Irish Potatoes.
Plant Snap-beans and Corn to give a succession.
Peas planted the last of the month bear very
well in autumn.
Continue to transplant Tomatoes, Celery; and,
the last of the montli, the main crop of winter
Cabbage, Cauliflower, Brocoli, Ac., should be set
out. For these have the ground prepared in
advance and laid off in trenches, in which set
the plants (see Gardening for the South). A
light rain will wet the earth in these trenches
sufficiently to make the plants succeed. Trans
plant at this season w'ith great care, removing
most of the leaves to prevent evaporation, and
shading the plant by day. Still keep the ground
light by frequent hoeing, guarding it against
washing by horizontal culture, banks, and terra
cing.
At this dry season every drop of water should
be retained. Earth up loosely the growing crops.
Dig the weeds into the soil, or remove them to
the compost heap; use every endeavor to de
stroy insects. If your Squash vines die suddenly
examine them for, and destroy, the borers in the
stem, destroy aphides, Ac., with infusions of
tobacco, aloes, whale oil soap, Ac.
In the Fruit Garden, gather fruits as they ri
pen ; Pears especially lose flavor if ripened on the
tree. As soon as they will detach themselves
when gently raised by the hand, gather the crop
and place on the shelves of the fruit room to ri
pen. The Jargonello must be plucked even
earlier, or it will be found rotten at the core.—
Bartletts and some others will ripen perfectly in
the house at any time after the fruit is nearly
grown. Peaches for shipments, if freestone,
should be plucked as soon as they begin to feel
elastic before thoy are so ripe as to retain a mark
from the pressure of the fingers; clings, how
ever, must be nearly or quite ripe, or they will
shrivel; for home use they should ripen on the
tree. Apples should be plucked before they are
quite ready to drop, and they will be found more
juicy. Preserve a supply of fresh fruit in self
sealings cans, for winter use.
Continue to thin over-loaded trees. Let all
the insect-punctured fruit be daily gathered
(as it falls) and cooked for stock, or admit young
shoats to the orchard to consume it, if you would
diminish the insects in your fruit the coming
season. Peach-borers are about to leave the tree,
and must be exterminated now or never. If
not found in their holes, look for and crash the
cocoon of agglutinated sawdust in the soil, close
by the tree. Destroy the aphides, leaf rollers,
and other insects, that infest the vines.
Continue to summer prune, as directed last
month, removing lateral shoots and suckers
from the vine, rubbing off useless shoots, or stop
ping them by pinching their extremities; check
in like manner the too luxurious shoots of fruit
trees, to restore the balance and throw them in
to fruit. Do not cut off large limbs when a tree
is in a growing state, unless it is over luxuriant,
and such a sudden check is needed to throw it
into fruit. It takes a tree a long time to get
over the shock of a thorough summer pruning.
Budding may now be performed. Cleft grafting is
often performed successfully, the last of the
month, upon the apple, pear, and plum, before the
second growth begins.
Os varieties now first fruiting, if seedling, ob
serve if their quality and mode of boaring are
such as to make them worth reserving. If old
varieties, note if they are true to name as de
scribed in the fruit books.
Cut down old raspberry canes that have ceased
to bear; allow but six or eight new canes to a
stool. Fig bushes keep clear of suckers from
the roots. Keep the runners of the strawberry
clipped, unless you wish plants, not fruit next
season; and let the entire fruit garden be kept
free from weeds.
In the Flower Garden, gather seeds as they
mature. Ripened bulbs may be stored. Let an
nuals that have ceased to blossom be removed.
Also the seed stalks of perennials as soon as the
blossoms fade; so also with the decayed flowers
and hips of the rose. Head back Dahlias that
have ceased to flower, that they may bloom again
on the first growth. Destroy the bugs that in
fest them. Top Chrysanthemums, in order to
make bushy plants. Keep all the walks clear,
the*beds and borders light and mellow, and free
from weeds. Let the lawn always be kept
closely shorn, and the grass will not be so likely
to die out after mowing, the roots being always
accustomed to bear the sun. Layer Verbenas,
Petunias, Ac. Bud and layer roses. Plants in
pots must now be watered and syringed daily.
Tho beauty of the grounds themselves can be
kept up at this season only by liberal watering
at evening.
Steam Plow.—The Illinois Central Railroad
Company offer a premium of fifteen hundred dol
lars for the best steam engine for plowing, or
other farm work; one that can successfully com
pete with animal power, as regards cost and la
bor saving, combined. —Genesee Farmer.
55